Releasing device



S t. 6,1932. M. H. BALLARD 1,875,322

RELEASING DEVICE Filed Jan. 6. 1927 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED-STAT S PATENT OFFICE MILTON HENRY BALLARD, F BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY. CORPORATION, OF PATERSON', NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 'OF 'IJI NEW JERSEY RELEASING DEVICE Applicationfiled January 6, 1927. Serial No. 159,433.

This invention relates to improvements in releasing devices and is herein illustrated as embodied in a clicking machine of thetype set forth in United States Letters Patent .NO. 921,503, granted May .11, 1909 on an application filed in the name od Arthur Bates.

In the use of machinesof various types it frequently happens that, due to improper operation, a machine will become jammed in such manner that various of the operating parts are held under considerable pressure resulting from the action of sprung portions of the machine. Under such circumstances it is very often diflicult to release the parts without breaking them or Without partially disassembling the machine.- For example, difliculties of this kind sometimes occur in connection with the operation of clicking machines of the type referred to in the aforementioned United States Letters Patent.

' Such machines commonly comprise a presser mounted upon a post which in turn is, secured by means of screw-thread connections to a power-operated spindle. It occasionally happens that in operating'such machines upon heavy material the presser member becomes stalled upon the work support. When such asituation arises the post, spindleand frame of the machine are so sprung that great pressure is exerted upon the screw-thread connections, thus making it diflicult' to release the parts in order that they can be returned to their normal positions.

In view of the foregoing,'one object of the invention is to provide an improved releasing device which can be readily released even though it is initially held under the action of comparatively great pressures.

Accordingly, and as illustrated, one feature of the invention consists in the provision of an improved releasing device comprising pressure members, and a wedge insertable between the members and having bearing surfaces so relatively disposed that-the pressureexerted by the pressure members is maintamed or released, dependent upon the angular relation between the portions of the bearing surfaces engaged by the pressure members. -In the embodiment illustrated, oppositely disposed surfaces of the wedge are cylindrical and fiat, respectively, with the result that a comparatively slight movement '55 of the wedge in the pressure-releasing direction will increase the angle between the portions of the bearing surfacesof the wedge engaged by the pressure members to the extent that the friction between the wedge and memm ber's will not be sufficient to holdthe wedge in position, resulting in the forcing out of the we'dge,'thus providing easily operated means for readily releasing pressure on the pressure members. It is contemplated that il the pressure members may form parts of a machine and that the pressure-transmitting member will be normally eifective to secure together the parts but will facilitate the release of the parts when the machine becomes jammed. i I

Although by way of illustration the inven tion will be described with especial refer ence toits adaptability for use in clicking machines of the above-mentioned type, it will be understood that in its various aspects the invention is not limited to embodimentin such machines. v

Other features of the invention will be described in the detailed description and will be pointed out in the claims. a

In the drawing,

Fig.1 is aside elevation partly in section of a machine illustrating one embodiment of the invention; a a

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in section of the clamping device and'wedge; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the clamp ing device and wedge.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a clicking machine which comprises (see Fig. 1) a frame 10 supporting a shaft 12 for operating a crank 14 to produce a reciprocating movement of a' shaft or spindle 16 in a vertical direction. Operatively' connected to the upper end of the spindle 16 is a post 18 mounted in frame bearings 19 for vertical sliding movement with the spindle and for movement of rotation about its axis. The post 18carries a presser member 20 recipro 1 tion of the leather or other material andto permit movementof the presser member into alignment with a die positioned anywhere on the material to be operated upon, the presser member 20 is movable laterally over the cut-' ting bed. To this end, for supporting the post 18 rotatively on the spindle 16 the latter is provided with a sleeve 24 slidably mounted thereon and resting upon a bearing 26 supported by a collar 28 on the spindle 16. The post 1 8 is connected to the sleeve by screw threads 80 and is movable up or down relatively to the spindle 16 as the sleeve 24 is rotated by means of a hand wheel 32 which is keyed to the sleeve 24 and rests upon a sleeve 34 which bears upon the upper end of the sleeve 24 and surrounds the upper portion of the post 18. The construction so far described islike thefconstruction of corresponding parts described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,431,920, granted October 17 1922 upon an application filed in my name, to which reference may be had for a more detailed description of parts not fully herein disclosed.

In order tocl'arnp the sleeve 24 between the collar 28 and the end of thespindle 16 to secure the post 18 to the spindle for vertical movement therewith to force the presser toward and from a die on the material to be died-out, the spindle 16 is provided at its upper end with screw threads 35 upon which is mounted a nut 86 (best shown in Figs. 2 and 3) carrying a wristpin38, held against rotation by a set-screw 40, upon which is rotatably mounted a pair of shoes 42 extend ing on opposite sides of the spindle the nut 36 being cut away to form flat bearing S111", faces 44 for theshoes. The shoes 42 are retained upon the wrist pin 38 by cotter pins 43. The lower surfaces of the shoes 42 are curved to conform to curved surfaces of a retaining member comprising a wedge 46 which is positioned between the shoes 42 and a bushing 48 resting upon the upper end of the sleeve 24. I I

The wedge'46 comprises upstanding side plates 50 positioned adjacent to the surfaces 44 on opposite sides of the spindle 16', a plate 52 connecting the side plates at one end thereof and an abutment 54 connected by lugs 56 to the plates 50 being provided at the other end. The lower surfacesof the plates 50 are flat and rest upon the bushing 48 which is cut away at 49 to provide bearing surfaces for the plates. The curved upper surfaces 58 of the plates 50 lie in the periphcry ofan imaginary cylinder. positioned with its" axis perpendicular to the plates. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the surfaces 5 8 in- Cline downwardly from the end plate 52 toward the right, the inclination being much steeper as the abutment 54 is approached. It is to be noted that, since the bearing surfaces of the shoes 42 and the bearing surfaces 58 of the wedge are of the same curvature, consecutive portions of the shoes will suecessively engage consecutive portions of the surfaces 58 upon relative movement of the wedge and shoes, the pivotal mounting of the shoes permitting movement thereof as required in maintaining the curved surfaces of the wedge and shoes in engagement through- ,out the length of the bearing surfaces of the shoes.

Thus any tendency of the shoes to gouge the surfaces 58 of the wedge is eliminated.

The wrist pin 38 is provided with a slot 60 in which is inserted one end of a stii spring 62, the other end of which extends downwardly into contact with a pin 64 car ried by one of the wedge lates 50. The arrangement is such that t e spring 62 tends to move the .wedge 46 inwardly between the shoes 42 and the bushing 48 (Fig. 8) until allparts of the lower surfaces of the shoes 42 bear upon the upper surfaces 58 of the wedge.

The wedge 46 is provided with a set-screw 66 extendingthrough the endplate 52 and arranged for contact with the bushing 48. By adjustment of the set-screw 66 the inward movement of the wedge 46 between the shoes 42 and the bushing 48 under the action of spring 62 can be limited as desired in order to vary the operative position of the wedge with respect to the shoes 42. A lock nut 68 is provided for securing the set-screw 66 in adjusted position.

In order to take up the play between the shoes 42 and the wedge46, with the spindle 16 in the position shown in Fig. 1, the nut 36 is adjusted upon the screw threads 35 in a direction tomove thewrist pin 38 toward the wedge in its innermost or operative position for a given adjustmentof the screw 66, until the shoes 42 canbe rotated a slight amount only, some play being desirable in order that the spring 62 can return the wedge to its operative positionafter the wedge has been forced out. A set-screw 70 provides means'for securing the nut 36 in adjusted position.

The arrangement of parts just described is such that the wedge 46 operates as a trans mitting member for the pressure exerted upon pressure members comprising the bushing 48 and shoes 42 by the spindle 16 in moving the prcsser member 20. This pressure acts substantially in a perpendicular plane through the axis of the wrist pin 38.

The angularity of curved surfaces 58 relatively to the flat surface of the wedge increases from the abutment 54 to the end wall 52, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the angle of the wedge varies lengthwise thereof. Thus the wedge is equivalent to a plurality of fiat wedges of different wedge angles,.and, dis regarding forxthe moment the action of the 51 shoes 42, the wedge anglewhich isfei'fective at any given time is determined by the angu larity of the portions of thesurfaces towhich pressure is. applied. For example, ifpressure be applied to= the bottom team wedge and to theupper portions ofsurfaces '58'near the end wall 52,the effective angle, .that is, the angle between the bottom of the-wedge and a plane tangent to surfaces 58' at the line of'in'tersection with the plane inwhich pressure is applied to the surfaces, will be comparatively small.- However, if pressure is applied to surfaces 58 near the abutment 54, the effective angle will be comparatively large. In the illustrated machine downward preszo, sure is applied to the wedge substantially in a fixed vertical plane, through action of spindle 16, with the result that the effective angle of the wedge will be determined by the position of the wedge relatively to that planev 4 and also upon the angularity of the shoes 42 which are so movable on wrist pin 38 that the central portions of the bearing surfaces of the shoes will be located slightly to the left or right of that plane, depending upon the portion of the wedge surfaces engaging the shoes. Since the bearing surfaces of the shoes 42 are curved to correspond to the curvature of the wedge, consecutive portions thereof will engage different consecutive portions of the surfaces 58 extending at various angles to the flat bottom of the wedge. However, the resultant of the pressure applied to surfaces 58 will act upon the wedge surface within the limits of the bearing surfaces of the shoes,

and, consequently, more specifically stated, the effective angle of the wedge will be the angle included between the flat bottom sur-' face of the wedge and a plane tangent to the surfaces 58 at points somewhere along the curve of the engaging portions of the wedge and shoes. Thus, when the angles between the flat surface of the wedge and those portions of the surfaces 58 engaged by the shoes are small, the effective angle of the wedge will be small and vice versa. This should be clear from an inspection of Fig. 2 in which the wedge in its innermost position with the shoes resting upon flat portions of the curve is indicated by dotted lines, and in which the wedge in a position in which the shoes rest upon steeper portions of the curve is shown in full lines.

The effect of friction between the wedge and the bushing 48 is substantially constant for given forces acting upon the wedge, but the friction between the curved surfaces 58 of the wedge and the shoes 42 resulting from the action of the components of the forces upon the shoes which act normal to the surfaces 58 will depend upon the effective angle together vary approximately as the cosine of theefi'ective wedge angle. Thus the normal force,-and consequently the'friction, is increased as 'the'eifective'angle decreases. 5

For relatively small angles the friction between the surfaces is. suflicient to holdthe wedge in position to clamp the sleeve 24 to the spindle, but for relatively large angles a small horizontal component of forces acting upon the wedge is suflicient to overcome the friction and to force out the wedge.

In adjusting the parts of the-machine for operation the wedge 46 is preferably so positioned relatively to the shoes 42 that its effective angle is such that the friction between the wedge and its bearing surfaces is slightly more than suflicient to prevent the forcing out of the wedge under the action of the downward movement of the spindle.

In the normal operation of the machine the pressure-transmitting member or wedge 46 serves asa retaining member positional between the clampingsurfaces of the shoes 42 and the, bushing .48 to secure the sleeve 24 against movement longitudinally of the spindle 16 thusto insure movement of the post 18 and presser member 20 with the spindle 16 in pressure-applyingoperations upon material supported on the bed 22.

In operating upon heavy or thick material, especially when a die is'positioned upon the Work near the extremity of the presser member, it, sometimes happens that the presser member does not complete its operation and the machine is stalled with the crank, 14 on lower dead-center. As a result of this the post, spindle and frame of the machine are sprung in such manner as to maintain great pressure upon the wedge 46 and the parts associated. with it. In order to release the wedge so'that the various parts can be returned to their normal positions,-the wedge is forced out by striking against the abutment 54. It is necessary to move the wedge a small distance only for the reason that as it commences to move out the effective angle of the wedge almost immediately becomes steeper than the critical angle at which the wedge will be held in position by friction, and the wedge is automatically forced out by the pressure stored up in the sprung parts,

, tion.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A releasing device comprising a movable wedge having two bearing surfaces, and pres sure members constructed and arranged to engage different portions of the bearing surfaces upon relative movement between the wedge and the pressure members, one of the bearing surfaces having portions extending relatively to the other bearing surface at angles greater than the maximum angle between portions of the surfaces engageable by the pressure membersat which the wedge will remainin position under pressure exerted bythe pressure members.

2. A pressure-roleasiniqdevice comprising a movable wedge having a flat bearing surface and an oppositely disposed cylindrical bearing surface successive portions of which extend at different angles relatively to the flat bearing surface to form a wedge the effective angle of which is variable lengthwise thereof and depends upon the angle between the flat bearing surface and the portion of the cylindrical bearing surface to which'pressure is applied, a pressure mem her for engaging theflatbearing surface of the wedge, and a second pressure member mounted for movement angularly of the firstmentioned pressure member for engaging successive portions of the cylindrical bearing surface upon relative movement betwee the wedge and pressure members.

3. A releasing device comprising two pressure members and a wedge insertable between the pressure members, the wedge having one of its surfaces curved and one of the pressure members having a surface curved to correspond to the curved surface of the wedge, means for moving the wedge inwardly between the pressure members, and means for limiting the inward'movement of the wedge. V

4. A releasing device comprising two pres sure members and a wedge insertable between the pressure members, the wedge having one of its surfaces curved and one of the pressure members having a surface curved to correspond to the curved surface of the wedge, and means for moving the wedge inwardly between the pressure members.

5, A releasing device comprising a'wedge having'two bearing surfaces one of which is cylindrical, andpressure members for en gaging the bearing surfaces, one of the presnausea 

